Scrawled by a Raven
by MissFlocciNauci
Summary: "Creep lightly, dear little mice. The cat has sent its kittens out and they're on the prowl. Pipe down and keep your tail from view and you just might snatch that cheese. - tLc" Meet Elizabeth Hall, shy Ravenclaw blogger extraordinaire.  Set in Book 5


**Author's Note: **Welcome Hotties, Nerds, and Tools! This is my first story being published on the internet so be gentle. Reviews are welcomed but I'm going to continue writing regardless so they're not necessary. Please let me know of any inconsistencies or holes in the plot so far. Thanks and I hope you're staying for the entire ride!

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><p>Chapter 1: Falling Back Down The Rabbit Hole<p>

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><p><em>…I just don't get it. Something that has become routine, akin to breathing, still manages to send me into a panic. This is neither new nor unknown so I cannot find a reason as to why I feel as if I'm about to be confronted by the Bandersnatch itself...<em>

_But alas, as wary as I am, the bells have rung tenfold and soon I'm about to be pulled back down the rabbit hole. It was nice to be back home for the recess I am allowed but Wonderland never rests. Time runs differently there, you know, and I cannot be gone too..._

_I hesitate to think what will happen this time. Let this warning ring, Wonderland may no longer be safe. The Caterpillar will soon disappear and I'm frightened to think about the Jabberwocky that may or may not lurk in the shadows…_

_All we can hope is for the Cheshire cat to lead the way. I have a feeling that I'm not going to be the only lost one for long._

_~With the most sincere wishes, Lady C._

Elizabeth looked over the words she had written, rereading it and searching for any mistakes that she may have made in her haste to finish it. The entry was scheduled to be finished the past Monday. The deadline was pushed back to the previous night. However, Amelia had popped out of nowhere with a handful of DVDs, her school trunk, and a note from her parents lamenting about how they were called overseas and were unable to see their daughter off. Amelia's welcomed but unexpected arrival threw the entire family off schedule. Now she was rushing to finish her blog post before she was cut off from all technology for the next few months.

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><p>She had started her blog when she was twelve in her second year at Hogwarts. She had been terribly homesick the entire year before, even with her older sister there to look out for her, and had been looking for a better way to cope rather than running off to a corner and shutting everyone out. Cecelia, her sister, hadn't enjoyed her anti-social moping. She had allowed it the previous year, because homesickness was expected from a new student. The next year, however, she had decided to take matters into her own hands. On the first day of classes, she had cornered her after morning classes had ended.<p>

"You can't go on this way, Beth. It's not healthy. You're going to be here for six more years. You have to figure out some way to deal with it." Elizabeth could only nod, looking up wide-eyed. The other students continued to walk down the halls, paying no attention to the pair off to the side. Cecelia noticed that she was scaring her and took her tone down a few notches. "Look," she tried again, "I just don't want your time here to be difficult. This should be the time of your life!" They had started to walk from Elizabeth's Charms class to the common room to drop off a few books before lunch. "Why don't you write home to Mum?" Elizabeth said nothing, but shot a glare over at her. "Okay, no letters. What about a journal? You like to write don't you?" Elizabeth refrained from speaking once more and just looked at her. "Okay, okay. I'm backing off. Just, try to enjoy yourself? For me?" She just nodded, partly in agreement, partly just to get her to leave her alone. Elizabeth adored her older sister. She just wished she would just mind her own business. She could handle herself.

That night, after the other girls were in their beds for the night, Elizabeth lay awake within the confines of her curtains. As usual, she couldn't sleep. She was reluctant to start at the stack of books she brought from home as they were supposed to last her until break. Instead, she ran the day through her mind like a movie, rewatching the events. In the dark she remembered what her sister said about keeping a journal. She had nothing better to do. Elizabeth leaned over the edge of her bed and blindly grasped for the spare notebook she kept. Uncapping a pen (she preferred pens to quills), she whispered to her wand and a soft glow emitted from it. She took a calming breath and began to write on the first page.

_Monday, September 2nd, 1991_

_There's a star among us now. He's a year younger than me. I think his glasses are strange. The gossip says that he was raised by muggles. It's a bit sad. He won't last long here if he doesn't have some talent. The expectations for him must be sky-high. Professor Snape looks as if he might already have it out for him. I would be afraid if I was in the same class as him during their Potions. I don't want to be in the same room as both of them._

Elizabeth couldn't remember how long she wrote that night. She woke the next morning to someone rudely shaking her.

"Come on! Wake up! You'll want to be showering soon if you want breakfast before class." A blonde girl stood over her, already dressed in her school uniform. "There you are!"

"What time is it?" Elizabeth's voiced croaked. She had never slept that deeply at school.

"Time for you to get up! You're usually gone by now and probably don't know this but there's a bloodshed in the morning for the bathroom." The blonde was annoyingly awake.

"I'll be fine. I'll just use my sister's room. Most of her dorm mates should have gone down by now." She glanced at the clocked and did a double-take. She had woken up three hours later than usual. "Thanks anyway."

The blonde's face split into a grin. "Think nothing of it. We're roommates now. We have to look after each other, don't we?" Elizabeth had already picked up her uniform from the end of her bed and now stood at the foot of it with the blonde. She never really spoke with the other girls outside of class-related topics. It was strange to talk to someone else. It was then that Elizabeth realized she was also smiling. The blonde's grin was contagious. "Oh, how rude of me. I haven't introduced myself." She stuck out her hand towards Elizabeth. "I'm –"

Elizabeth cut her off. "You're Amelia Taylor."

Amelia's smile turned sheepish. "And you're Elizabeth Hall. Your sister is fifth year Cecelia Hall." At the surprised look on Elizabeth's face, she clarified, "Of course I know your name, Elizabeth. We've only been roommates for a year. Even though you were practically silent for the majority of it." The last bit was said under her breath. Elizabeth pushed her shoulder a little.

"Back off a bit! I was homesick every night." The two of them broke out in nervous giggles.

"Don't worry. I'm just taking the mickey out of you. Honest." Amelia widened her eyes in what was supposed to be an innocent look.

"Sure you were." Elizabeth smirked back at her. "You're not fooling me with that innocent act. I'm a Ravenclaw too, remember?" She began to walk out of the room and down the hall to her sister's room. She was slightly shocked to find that Amelia followed her out of the room but quickly covered it up.

"See! There we go. I knew there had to be a personality somewhere in there." Elizabeth just shook her head at Amelia's behavior.

Cecelia was confused to see them in there but after Elizabeth explained the situation, she surrendered her bathroom, glad that her sister seemed to have finally made a friend. They walked down to the Great Hall and compared schedules over toast. Lo and behold, they had most of their classes together. It was an unlikely friendship between the two. Amelia was the overly dramatic, outgoing social butterfly. Elizabeth was more reserved, a little bit shy but would be frank with one when the time came for it. They complimented each other as opposites.

Every night after that one, Elizabeth wrote a journal entry. And every following night, she slept well.

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><p>She didn't quite remember when she first started posting the journal online. If asked to guess, she would assume that it was the summer they were traveling around North America with Amelia's family. Her journal had gotten left in the hotel somewhere. Posting it online was just easier and more convenient. At school she would write the entry on a fresh page in her journal. The transfer spell that linked her journal and her computer was complicated, created by Cecelia especially for her. It was a calming habit that toke away some of the stress of being at school. She was a Ravenclaw by all means but the pressure got to her occasionally. Journaling was a way to alleviate some of that pressure and retain what was left of her sanity.<p>

"Hurry up, ladies! The Hogwarts Express waits for no student." Elizabeth shook herself out of her daze and returned to the task at hand. She had caught only a few typos during her search and decided that the once-over would have to do. Clicking the "Publish Post" button, she logged off of the computer, stood up, and stretched.

The previous night was a blur of bright colors, laughter, and movie scenes in Elizabeth's mind. That morning they had awoken to the sound of Elizabeth's alarm clock screeching at them to drag themselves from their beds or they would miss the train. Cecelia was driving them to the train station. The sisters' mother had already gone to work, leaving a note with her apologies for not being able to see her girls of and enough money for breakfast. They would stop at a café on the way.

"I'm ready. My trunk's in front of the door and I'm fully dressed. I just had to check a few things on the laptop."

Cecelia was leaning against the island in the kitchen, a thermos of what appeared to be coffee in hand. "I know you're ready. Where's Red?"

"Here I am! And stop calling me 'Red'!" Amelia's voice called down from the top of the stairs. Heavy thunks followed her footsteps before she appeared at the bottom with her trunk leaning against the wall. "Little help here?" She was trying to balance her coat, bag, iPod, and lunch bag, all while trying not to knock her trunk over and attempting to put her earrings in.

Cecelia tutted at the younger girl and slipped her wand from her sweater sleeve. "_Locomotor Amelia's Trunk!_" The trunk lifted itself off of the ground and floated over to where Cecelia was standing.

"Thanks a bunch, Cee! I miss magic so much."

"It's nothing, Amy. Really, I'm helping myself out. I don't want scuff marks on the floors."

"Oh, well then I take my gratitude back." A devilish look was on Amelia's face.

"Too late. Now come on. I need to get good parking and you guys need to eat something. Do you have everything, Beth?"

Elizabeth was bent over in the refrigerator, looking for something to tide her over for the long ride. "Yep. Just let me grab somethi-" A crash interrupted her words. She stood up in a rush and turned towards the source of the sound. Amelia was over by the door, sprawled on the floor. "What did you do?"

"Your stupid trunk tripped me," she whined.

"Maybe if you wouldn't kick it every time you ran your foot into it at night then it wouldn't try to attack you. Have you ever thought of that?"

"Cheeky," Amelia warned. Elizabeth just smiled at her. "Help me up?" Elizabeth did just that and pressed an apple into her friend's hand. "What's this?"

"Did you bump your head when you fell? It's an apple."

"I know that! Why did you give me an apple?"

"Didn't you hear the woman? We don't have time to eat right now. Finish that in the car and we'll get muffins from that café you like so much."

Amelia nodded at this explanation. She perched herself upon the edge of Elizabeth's trunk in order to put on her shoes. "I'm all good now. Let's go!" She tossed her apple in the air, caught it and took a bite.

"Show off."

"Jealous."

The two smiled at each other. They really had been friends for too long. Cecelia cleared her throat from behind the girls. "Are you guys just going to stand there or are we going to get going?"

"The latter. To the batmobile!" And with that Amelia was off to the car with a skip in her step, her dyed red hair in a braid bouncing against her back. The Hall sisters watched her in amazement.

"It's too early to be that awake. She's inhuman," whispered Cecelia.

"Don't you think I already know that?" Elizabeth shot a smile at her sister and together they walked out to the street.

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><p>They arrived at the station at twenty till. Cecelia had shrunken the trunks and gave them to their corresponding owners to carry onto the trains. Once there, they would return to full size. Amelia and Elizabeth both lacked pets as Amelia was allergic to cats while Elizabeth just didn't like them and neither girl saw the need for an owl when they had the owlery. A toad or a rat was out of the question. Without the extra baggage that plagues the average student, the trio navigated the crowded station with ease.<p>

"You know, you would think they would have called it, 'platform nine and a half'. Where did the three-quarters come from?" Amelia inquired.

"Obviously not from mathematicians." That was the last thing Elizabeth said before she and Amelia fell through the wall. They had been leaning against it nonchalantly, finishing their muffins. Cecelia had to make a stop at the restroom and promised that she'd meet the two on the platform itself.

"I still don't get how you think that blueberry beats the almighty chocolate chip." Amelia took the muffin wrapping out of Elizabeth's hand and veered over to the rubbish bin to toss the trash.

"I still cannot believe you don't seem to get that it's in my DNA," Elizabeth said while wiping her mouth free of crumbs.

"She's right. It's in our blood." Cecelia seemed to have appeared from thin air, as if she'd silently Apparated. "We bleed blue."

Amelia jumped at the appearance of the older girl and lightly hit her with her bag. "Don't sneak up on people! Next time you do that I might Stun you! And excuse me for not being a fifth generation Ravenclaw. Some families are varied," she sniffed. Cecelia just laughed. Amelia's theatrics weren't anything new. Cecelia had known her for far too long to be bothered by her antics.

"You two better get a move on it. The train is leaving in a few minutes and you need to find a compartment." Cecelia had begun to herd Amelia and Elizabeth towards the train, the three of them snaking around families on the platform. She easily picked Mrs. Weasley out of the crowd, surrounded with her children. Their eyes met and Cecelia nodded in greeting. Mrs. Weasley warmly smiled back at her.

Elizabeth softly smiled at her sister's actions. "I almost thought you weren't going to make it," she said quietly.

"Of course I made it. The line for the loo was just devastatingly long." Cecelia nudged her sister in the side, then threw her arm around her shoulders. "How could I not send off my two favorite girls?" Elizabeth just nodded while she readjusted her grip on her bag. Amelia stood off slightly to the side and pretended not to hear the entire exchange.

"It's strangely crowded this year. Is it just me or are there more adults than children?" Amelia asked. She bumped into an old woman. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going."

The woman's smile stretched her face and had an oddly youthful quality to it. "Think nothing of it, dear." Amelia smiled and complimented the woman's purple hat before running off to catch up with the others.

"Amy, you can't be seen with me if you're going to be bumping into old ladies like that," Elizabeth informed her friend once she caught up to them. "I just can't have that."

"Darling, you can't get rid of me. Who would you turn to then? Marietta? Cho? I don't think so. Besides, it's not my fault. There are just so many people here; I'm stepping on a firstie every few meters!"

"It'll be less crowded on the train. Now get to it." They were now in front of the doorway. "Let me see you." Cecelia arranged them side-by-side in front of her. It was time to bestow her yearly dose of pre-school wisdom. "You two are sixth years now. This is your last carefree year. Next year you'll have N.E.W.T.s and will be worried about the real world. Do try to enjoy this year." She leaned down and gave each girl a tight hug. "Amelia, make sure you get my little sister to let loose this time around." Amelia saluted Cecelia in understanding and Cecelia looked pleased.

"Now get on that train. And do me another favor this year, both of you. Don't get yourself killed," Cecelia said solemnly. Elizabeth and Amelia nodded in union, their expressions mirroring hers. No one had forgotten the tragedy that was Cedric Diggory.

Amelia boarded the train. Elizabeth was right behind her until she suddenly turned on her heel and ran at her sister for a strangling hug. "I'll miss you," she said into her ear.

"Of course you will. I'm too wonderful not to miss." Cecelia ruffled her hair. "Amy's waiting for you." Elizabeth nodded and went back to the train and boarded.

"Time to find a compartment?" Amelia asked.

"Time to find a compartment," Elizabeth affirmed.

The last thing Elizabeth saw was her older sister near the group of flaming red heads, speaking to the mother before she was pulled down the corridor by her wrist by an impatient Amelia; Empty compartments wait for no girl.


End file.
